Riveting-machine.



J. R. FRENCH. RIVETING MACHINE. APPLICATION I'ILIBD'NOV. Z, 1968. 930,952, Patented Aug. 10, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. R. FRENCH. RIVETING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov. 2, 190s.

Patented Aug. 10, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNirED srn'rns" @PATENT `onirica.

' JOHN Rf. FRENOH, lor LosiiNenLns, CALIFORNIA.

mvnTING-MACHINE- p ASpecification of Letters Patent PatentedAug. 10, 1909.

Application med Nvember 2, 190s. serial No. 460,762..

To all whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. FRENCH, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county `of Los Angelesand State of California, have inventedV` a new and useful Riveting-Machine, of whichr the following isa specification.l

lThis invention relates to riveting machines whichV are designed particularly forv riveting pipe, and has for one of its objects to perform the riveting operation on the Vinside o f the pipe, thus permitting the rivets to be inserted from the outside ofthepipe,

which is much easier than toinsert them from the inside of the pipe.`

The riveting operation is Vperformed by a riveting device which` operates on a line substantially perpendicular tothe aXesV of the rivets, which results in riveting them inr succession, the rivets being arranged in a row, and a further object is to provide novel means for quickly Operating said riveting device along the row of rivets, so that the riveting operation will be` performed in .a much quicker manner' than has been heretofore produced byany machine of which I am aware, andv which 4also causes tlie retraction of the riveting device, after lthe operation of riveting, with a speed equal to the riveting stroke. l

Another object is to provide; novel and effective mechanism forclamping the ,over- Y lapping edges of the pipetogether and holding them securely during the riveting operis a side elevation of another form 'of the` machine, partly insection. Fig. 5v isa cross section on line .x5-m5 Fig. t. Y

In the forms shown inFigsl to 3 1 designates the main frame of the' machine hav- `ing horizontal arms' 2 which",l are located above a hollow stake 3. The innerend of the stake' 3 extends into the main frame 1 so as to. be firmly secured thereby, and to hold it rigidly during-the riveting operation a swinging "hook i is employed, which, prior to riveting, yisswungydown.to engage a lip Fig. 2 is a cross section 'on 5on-thestake3, tlieliook 4 being pivoted at 6. The stake 3 is provided with two series of slots 7 and'S which are arranged in Itwo rows, the slots 7 alternating with slots 8, and both` rows communicating with a longitudinal groove ,9 formed in the center ofV the stake 3. vSlidalole in the groove 9 is a riveting device which, in ,the'form shown, comprises a wedge 10 havingl two inclined faces, as shown, aiidpreferably being secured to a piston rod 11 by a bolt 12", so.

that'wlien one of the inclined faces becomes worn the riveting wedge may be reversed and the other inclined face used, and when this inclined face becomes too worn for use the riveting wedge may be entirely removed` ,andk a `new one substituted. The riveting wedge is preferably operated through the medium of theV piston rod 11 which is conneoted with a piston 12 traveling in a cylinder 13, the latter being attached to the main frame 1 and supported bya brace 14C. Ports 15 andv 16 lead from la valve 17 to the respective ends of the cylinder, and the valve 17 may be controlled by a lever 18 operating a link 19which is connected with an arm 20 on the valve 17. The motive fiuid is introduced tothevalve 17 through an inlet pipe 21.` Obviously, compressed air or steam couldbe employed, if desired, but hydraulic `operation is preferred.

22 designates a pipe to be riveted and which is slipped on the stake 3. Slidably arranged in each slot 7 and 8 is a riveting block 23. As shown in Fig. 2, each riveting block is formed with va horizontal lower facewhich causes it to` have a fiat Contact with the riveting wedge as ythe latter is recipro- 4cated. They top face of Veach riveting block 23 lperforms the riveting operation as the block is moved up by the pressure of the riveting wedge 10. Each block is so con- Vstructed that it may be reversed. The rivets arey kept in place and held firmly from rising by an anvil 24C whichhas a longitudinal groove 25 in its bottom ,which receives the heads of the vrivets 26, while flanges 27 on each side of the groove 26 press against the pipe 22 and thus hold the overlapping edges together and in close contact with the stake 3. The anvil 24 is mounted to slide vertically between the arms 2 and is carried by two short eccentric rods'28 which are operated byV eccentrics 29 on shafts 30. Each shaft 30 has a gear 31, and both gears 31 meshwith a pinion32 on a shaft 33 which Vopera-tes by a hand wheel 34. By giving y29` stand substantially on their Alowest centers which, combined with the great leverage produced by the small pinion32, results in holding the anvil 24c absolutely in posi-y tien, and yet enables itto be quickly and `easily raised or lowered, as desired.

Furthermore, this construction also permits of the necessary degree o'i'' adjustment of the anvil according to the thickness of the pipe.

UponV introducing iiuidv at one end of the cylinder 13 and allowing it to escape from the other end, the piston 12 will be forced to the left causingthe riveting wedge'l() to move Ving Vdevice 10, and so on.

along the row of riveting blocks 23 and lift `them insuccession, each riveting block riveting the rivet from the inside oi the pipe as it is moved up by the riveting wedge, so that by the time the riveting wedge arrives at the end of its stroke all of the rivets will have been set. The piston in traveling through Hits strokereceives a succession of reactive resistances which are serially compensated by intervening accumulations of momentum VVdue to further expansion of the fluid in the lpiston and momentarily checks it but the accumulation of pressure behind the piston immediately overcomes the reactive force and iinpels the piston through its next step with high momentum, due to the acciiinulatedpi'essure, so that the second block 23 is struck a sharp hammer blow by the rivet- Each time the blow is struck the piston is momentarily checked and the pressure behind it iinmediately piles up and as the riveting devicel is released by the riveting block the eXtra pressure which has piled up back of the piston shoots it forward with greater momentum so that it produces the sharp hammer blow laterally against the riveting block. If the resistance to the movement of the piston was one of uniformity and was unchanging from end toend of the stroke the piston would move through the stroke with a smooth action. It is the checking of its movement and the piling up of pressure with sudden release which imparts the high momentumto the piston through the spaces between the rivets where its movement is'unrestricted that causes the sharp hammer blows; at the time the riveting device strikes the riveting block the movement of the piston is unrestricted and it is traveling at its highest speed so that the impact on striking the block is sharp.` The working stroke is while the riveting wedge moves to the right,

and before it commences the reverse stroke In order to support the pipe, a saddle 35 is provided which has two hollow legs 36 telescoping with threaded rods 3'( which rise from the floor. Nuts 38 may be adjusted on rods 37 for the lees 36 to rest upon to support the saddle 3o at the elevation desired. In the form shown in Fig. 4, the riveting wedge 10 instead of being operated by the piston and cylinder construction is operated by a screv 40 which is connected to the rod 11. The screw 410 does not revolve but is operated by a nut 41 arranged in the hub of a pulley L12 which may be operated in one direction to operate the wedge 10 through the working stroke, and the pulley may be then reversed to restore the riveting wedge. The pulley L12 may be easily operated in either direction by means of a pair of pulleys operating in reverse directions and controlled by a suitable clutch, which arrangement is not shown as it is a well known niechaiiical expedient. The rotation of the rod 11 is prevented by means of a collar -13 having lugs 44; which engage in ways 45, as shown in Fig. 5.

vA wear-plate 46 is ar anged in the bottom of the groove 9 and is preferably formed of hardened steel and forms a renewable shoe to receive the weai' of the riveting wedge 10, which shoe may be renewed when worn.

Vhat I claim is 1. Means for supporting the pipe, a riveting device, an anvil cooperating with the riveting device, a cylinder, and a piston slidable therein and connected with the riveting device for operating the same along the line of rivets to rivet the same.

2. A stake having a longitudinal groove therein, riveting blocks slidable laterally in said stake, an anvil Acoperating with the riveting blocks, and a riveting device slidable longitudinally of the stake in said groove for operating said riveting blocks.

3. A stake having a longitudinal groove therein, a plurality of rows of riveting blocks', the riveting blocks being slidable transversely in the stake and the respective rows being in different planes, an anvil cooperating with the riveting blocks, and a riveting device slidable in said groove for operating said riveting blocks.

4. A frame, a stake thereon, a riveting device sliding in the stake, a cylinder on the frame, a piston sliding in the cylinder and connected with the riveting device to slide the same along the stake, an aiin over the ing the pipe, an anvil substantially parallel with the stake, eccentric rodsV connected to the anvil, eccentrics operating the eccentric rods, shafts carrying the eccentrics, a gear on each shaft, a pinion meshing with both gears, a shaft and handwheel for operating the pinion, and riveting means operating along the stake. i

6. A frame, a stake thereon for supporting the pipe, an arm over the stake, and a hook pivoted to swing laterally on the arm and adapted to engage a lip on the stake to hold the same. l

7. A lstake having` a groove, a row of riveting blocks slidable transversely of the stake, a Wear-plate in the bottom of the groove extending along the row of riveting blocks, a riveting device sliding inv said groove against the Wear-plate, and clamping i means for holding the pipe on the stake.V

8. A frame, a stake thereon, a riveting device slidable along the stake, an anvil'adjustable toward and from the stake for cooperating With the riveting device, and an eccentricdevice for positively adjusting the anvil toward and from the stake.

9. A iframe, a stake thereon, an anvil supported adjacent the stake, a rod slidable longitudinally of the stake, and a reversible riveting device carried by said rod, said riveting device comprising a block each end of Which is Wedge shaped.

10. In a riveting machine, a stake, a series of riveting blocks slidable transversely of the stake, and means operating longitudinally of the stake for imparting a succession of lateral hammering impacts serially against the riveting blocks.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 28th day of October 1908.

JOHN n. FRENCH. 

